Refrigerator conveyors



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March 27, 1956 E. WOLDRING 2,739,540

REFRIGERATOR CONVEYORS Filed Feb. 20, 1953 9 IO 2 L e FIG. 2 FIG. 3

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EGBERT \A/OLDRING ATTORNEY REFRIGERATOR CGNVEYORS Egbert Woldring, Grand Rapids, Mich assignor to The Rapids-Standard Company, Inc, Grand Rapids, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application February 20, 1953, Serial No. 333,109

Claims. (Cl. 104135) This invention relates to conveyors and more particularly to the construction of a conveyor rail specifically designed for use in refrigerated cabinets.

In the refrigerated foods industry, particularly in the prepackaging of meats, it is necessary to cut, weigh, wrap, and label the meats while under refrigeration. Normally these operations must be done in a refrigerated room. This makes the operation exceedingly unpleasant for the operators. By the use of my invention, it is possible to carry out these operations in a heated room. The meats are cut and placed in a refrigerated cabinet. The refrigerated cabinet contains a conveyor for transporting the meat through a working area of normal room temperature where it is packaged, weighed, labelled and returned to a refrigerated area before it becomes warm. These meats are packaged in transparent materials and should the meat become warm during packaging, the package will be internally coated by condensation when it is again refrigerated. The meats in transit are normally moved on trays of various sizes. The object of my invention is to provide a conveyor track suitable for transporting these trays.

In the construction of conveyor track for use under these particular circumstances there are several problems peculiar to this usage. The width of the conveyor track must be made readily adjustable to accommodate trays of different widths and sizes. The conveyor track must be so constructed that each rail is self supporting. it is necessary that the track be readily removable for cleaning. This is necessary not only to permit thorough cleaning of the track but also to permit cleaning of the bottom of the cabinet in which the track is seated. To this end, the track itself must be so designed that its various components are readily accessible to cleaning implements.

In addition to these objectives the track must be light weight, relatively inexpensive and durable.

These and other objects and purposes of my invention will be seen by those acquainted with the design and construction of materials handling equipment upon reading the following specification and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a broken side view of a conveyor track embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional elevation view taken along the plane 11-11 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary top view of the rail for my conveyor track with the conveyor Wheel and its supporting yoke removed.

Figure 4 is a side elevation view of the conveyor wheel and yoke for my conveyor track.

Figure 5 is a sectional elevation view taken along the plane VV of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an elevation view of the supporting rack for my conveyor showing a group of conveyor tracks in position.

In executing the objects and purposes of my invention, I have provided a rail open at the bottom and closed at 2,739,540 Patented Mar. 27, 1956 the top and having the general shape of a Tudor arch. At selected spacings, openings are provided in the top of the rail within which are seated conveyor wheel supporting yokes. The conveyor wheels and yokes are removable as a unit from the rail. The rails are supported on each end by a notched rack which holds each rail upright and determines the spacing between rails.

in the following description the terms upwardly and downwardly are frequently used and are to be taken to mean upwardly as the invention appears in Figure l and downwardly away therefrom.

Referring specifically to the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a conveyor rail having the general shape of a Tudor arch. The conveyor rail 1 includes vertical sides 2 and a pair of inclined top surfaces 3 forming a peak at the center of the rail. The bottom of the rail is open between the sides 2. The surfaces 3 and sides 2 are all formed from a single piece of material whereby they are all integral. The rail 1 may be made in any suitable length the only limitation being the strength of the rail to withstand bending across a given suspension under the extended loading. This, of course, is dependent in part upon the gauge of the material used to make the rail. At equally spaced intervals along the rail, the top of the rail is provided with rectangular apertures 5 centered about the peak 4. These apertures have their longitudinal axes parallel with the peak 4. On each side, the apertures 55 are provided with a semi-circular notch 6. The purpose of the notch 6 will appear more fully hereinafter.

At suitable spacings along the rail, the free ends of the sides 2 are joined by a spacer i and bolt 8. The spacers and bolts are so located that none of them are in vertical alignment with the openings 5. The spacers '7 are of such length that the sides 2 of the rail are held vertical when the bolt 8 is tightened.

Each of the openings 5 receives a yoke 10. The yoke 10 is of a generally U-shaped construction, open at its upper end and having its sides, at their lower ends, connected by means of the web 11. The upper or free ends of the yoke 10 are bent over to form outwardly and downwardly extending lips 12. The size of the lips 12 is such that when the yoke is seated in an opening 5 the lips 12 will entirely cover the notches 6. The lips are illustrated as being somewhat circular in outline. It will be recognized that while this is a neat and convenient shape for these lips, they may be made any other suitable shape without in any way affecting my invention. The lips 12 extend the entire length of the yoke providing a broad bearing surface between the lip and the rail. This is necessary since the lips constitute the only support for the yoke and its conveyor wheel. The lower part of the yoke is tapered at 13 to facilitate the introduction of the yoke into the openings 5.

Mounted within each of the yokes is a conveyor wheel 14. The conveyor wheel 14 is mounted for free rotation upon a combination spacer and bearing 15 Which, in turn, is secured to the yoke by the rivet 16 extending therethrough and headed on each end to clamp the sides of the yoke securely to the spacer bearing. It will be recognized that any type of bearing arrangement may be used to assure free rotation of the wheel 14. The conveyor wheel 14 is so located within the yoke 10 that a segment of it projects above the top of the yoke and thus above the peak 4 of the rail.

Operation At least a pair of the rails 1 are used in each installation. The rails l are placed in parallel, spaced relationship to form a track for supporting articles such as trays. Therails at each end are seated upon a rack 20 having a number of notches 21 cut in its upper edge. The notches are spaced a distance equal to the width of the rail" wherebylower ends of the rails may seat in any selected. pair of notches. The rackssupport the railsand.

to hold them against tipping to either side. The notches 21 may be arranged in pairs with a distance greater than the width of a rail between each pair. The rack 20 is illustrated as being Wide enough to accommodate at least four rails. If it is necessary to change the spacing of the rails to accommodate trays or articles of different widths, this may be done simply by moving one of the rails of each pair to a different pair of notches. Since the notches rigidly hold the rail, it is unnecessary to provide any additional fastening means. Thus, the rails may be removed or their spacing adjusted simply by being picked up. The rack 29 normally rests upon the bottom of a refrigerator cabinet. It too. need not be fastened down and, therefore, can be simply picked up when it is desired'to relocate or to clean it'.

In order to clean the rails and the cabinet the rails are merely lifted out of the cabinet and the yokes 19 pushed out of the rails so that the inside of the rail is open and accessible for cleaning. At the same time, the yokes once removed from the rails may readily be cleaned. The notches 6 permit the heads of the rivets 16 to pass freely through the top of therail. This materially reduces the cleaning time necessary to keep the equipment entirely sanitary. It also contributes to the sanitary condition of the material since the accessibility of every part of the conveyor track makes it possible to clean every corner and dirt catching crevice. Since both the rails 1 and the rack 2t, may be simply lifted out ofthe cabinet the cleaning time required for the cabinet is materially reduced. The cleaning of the cabinet is also facilitated since only a smooth uninterrupted surface is presented for washing.

The various parts of my conveyor may be made of any suitable material. This material however should be substantially inert in the presence of food acids and should be non-corrosive because of the extreme moisture conditions attendant refrigerated areas. Aluminum and stainless steel are both satisfactory materials for this purpose. The conveyor wheel may be made of aluminum, steel or plastic. It will be recognized that mere variations in material will not in any way affect the principles of my invention.

While I have described my invention as primarily used in chilled cabinets for the conveying of meat during packaging operations, it will be recognized that the appiication of my invention is much broader than this one particular usage. While it is particularly desirable for refrigerated areas, it will be recognized that it has many other applications in both refrigerated and non-refrigerated zones. All of these various applications and minor modifications in the structure of my invention, which do not depart from the principle thereof, are to be considered as included in the hereinafter appended claims unless these claims, by their language, expressly state otherwise.

I claim:

1. A conveyor track comprising: a. U-shaped conveyor rail open at the bottom and closed at the top; a plurality of spaced openings through the top of said rail; a plurality of yokes; a conveyor wheel rotatably mounted in each of said yokes; one of said yokes hung in each of said open mgs.

2. A conveyor track comprising: an inverted U-shaped conveyor rail; a plurality of spaced openings through the top of said rail; a plurality of U-shaped yokes each having an outwardly and downwardly extending lip at each of its free ends; a conveyor wheel rotatably securedwithi'n each of said yokes; one of said yokes being seated in one of said openings with said lips thereof bearing against the top face of said rail.

3. A conveyor track comprising: an inverted U-shaped conveyor rail; a plurality of spaced openings through the top of said rail; a plurality of U-shaped yokes each having an outwardly and downwardly extending. lip at each of its free ends; a conveyor'wheelrotatably secured within each of said yokes; one of said yokes being'seated in one of said openings with said-lips thereof bearing against the top face of said rail; means for holding. the bottom ends of said rail at a predetermined fixed spacing.

4. A conveyor track comprising: a conveyor rail having the shape of a Tudor arch closed at the top and Open at the bottom; a plurality of equally spaced openings through the top of said rail; a plurality of U-shaped yokes open at their upper endsg'each of the. free ends of each of said yokes havingan outwardly and downwardly extending lip; a conveyor wheel rotatably secured within each of said yokes; one of said yokes extending through each of said openings with said lips seated against said rail for supporting said yokes; means for holding the bottom ends of said rail at a predetermined fixed spacing.

5. In a conveyor track, the combination comprising:v a pair of spaced parallel rails; eachof said rails being. of a generally U-shaped cross-section having. a closed top and spaced apart ends at the bottom; aplurality of spaced openings through the top of each of said rails; a plurality of yokes; a conveyor wheel rotatably mounted ineach of said yokes; one of. each of said yokes being hung in each of said openings; a rack member adjacent each of. the ends of said rails and arranged transversely of said rails; each of said rack members having a plurality of pairs of notches in its upper edge, thenotches. in each of said pairs being spaced apart the same distance as the ends at the bottom of each of said rails; eachof said rails being seated in a pair of said notches.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 845,935 France May 22, 1939 

